Jonathan D Tonkin

Summary

My research is focused around what promotes and maintains biodiversity at a range of spatial scales. Much of my work focuses on stream ecosystems, but my interests are question focused, not system specific. While my central interest lies in disentangling the mechanisms that structure metacommunities, I also tackle questions ranging from local to global, and from community ecology through to macroecology. I focus on a variety of basic ecological concepts and processes, including linkages between disturbance, productivity and diversity, biodiversity loss, ecosystem function, dispersal, and community assembly. I also aim to tackle applied ecological issues such as global change, land-use change, river regulation, and restoration, with the goal of applying ecological theory to effectively manage threatened ecosystems. My current research ties these issues together into the following three main themes: 1) Metacommunity ecology; 2) Global change ecology and macroecology; and 3) Restoration ecology. In light of these three themes, I am particularly focusing on the unique hierarchical and dendritic structure of river networks, and how this structure influences the biodiversity patterns of river communities.

Biodiversity Biogeography Conservation Biology Ecology Ecosystem Science Entomology Environmental Sciences Zoology

Institution affiliations